Page 80 - 2019 September 11th Christie's New York Chiense Art Himalayan bronzes and art

THE PROPERTY OF A DISTINGUISHED PRIVATE COLLECTOR
334
A GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF BUDDHA SHAKYAMUNI
SRI LANKA, POLONNARUVA PERIOD, 11TH CENTURY
8¬ in. (21.9 cm.) high

$30,000-50,000

PROVENANCE
The Pan-Asian Collection (Christian Humann), by 1977.
Robert Hatfeld Ellsworth, New York, 1982-2002.
Christie’s, New York, 19 September 2002, lot 200.
EXHIBITED
On loan to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Seattle Art Museum, Denver Art
Museum, William Rockhill Nelson Gallery, Kansas City, National Gallery,
Ottawa, Toledo Museum of Art: “The Sensuous Immortals,” 25 October
1977-29 October 1978.
LITERATURE
P. Pal, The Sensuous Immortals, A Selection of Sculptures form the Pan-Asian
Collection, catalogue of the traveling exhibition, Los Angeles, 1977, p. 155,
no. 91b.

The simple and pure styling of this Buddha fgure can be traced to the politico-
religious upheavals in Sri Lanka in the tenth and eleventh centuries, when
the Chola Empire under King Rajaraja invaded and conquered the northern
portion of the island. Buddhism was nearly wiped out during this period of
occupation, as the Cholas as a rule only supported the Brahmanical temples,
and in some cases, destroyed Buddhist monasteries. When the Sinhalese
fnally won back control of Sri Lanka in the late eleventh century, they sent
for Theravadan Buddhist monks from Burma to help reestablish the religion
on the island, and the conservative styling of their religious sculpture, as seen
here, changed little over the subsequent centuries. For further discussion of
the stylistic conservatism, see P. Pal, Asian Art at the Norton Simon Museum,
vol. III, 2004, pp. 56-57, cat. nos. 44-47.

P. Pal, The Sensuous Immortals, A Selection of Sculptures form the Pan-Asian Collection,
catalogue of the traveling exhibition, Los Angeles, 1977, cover and p. 155.

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